Thursday, April 16, 2009

HouseTV: Who for the Holidays: Part 2

It's like Speed, only slower and with more aliens.

(Note: This review of Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead may contain minor spoilers. I don't think it's anything that would wreck your viewing, but you've been warned.)

Call me crazy, but I've never bothered to double check when the Doctor Who specials were set to come out this year. I just occasionally check to see if there's any buzz about them anywhere on the interwebs. So imagine my surprise when a few scant days ago I realized that Easter was the set date for the appearance of my second favorite self-repairing, time and space bending hero. The first, of course, is mentioned by the Doctor himself in the opening moments of Planet of the Dead.

(Although honestly, I'm terrified just what the first Easter would be like in the Who-verse. But it's best not to think of such things, and just move on.)

So this holiday's adventure gives us David Tenant's Doctor stopping to catch a bus. This self same bus is occupied by the elusive and mysterious Lady Christina de Souza, played by Michelle Ryan. The bus, of course, makes an odd detour, and hilarity ensues.

Well, actually the entire episode plays a bit straight. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I know that I was especially critical of this year's Christmas special, almost to the point of feeling like it was phoned in. But even though the story here is hardly full of twists, it still manages to be entertaining.

The reason is no doubt due to the cast. Tenant is given much more to work with in terms of the scifi, and the Doctor as a character has more opportunity to interact with characters in this adventure. In truth, he seems much more like his old, quirky, unpredictable self (aside from a few heavy moments along the way).

Michelle Ryan's Christina is a refreshing change of pace. If you're like me, you'll play a game of, "Don't I know you from...?" before realizing that Ryan was A) in the BBC show Jekyll and/or B) played the titular character in the US remake of The Bionic Woman. Christina is a bit of a shift from companions past. Rose and Martha could be considered capable assistants. Donna openly challenged the status quo of the universe. Minogue's Astrid and Morrisey's "Doctor" were worthy a tagalong and a bizarrely effective leader respectively. And then there's Jack. Oh, Jack.

Christina certainly best fits with the final member of the list. Like Jack, Christina is a bit of a rogue that appears to be essentially good at heart. And when she seems to have everything a person could possibly need if stranded on a deserted island (or planet) in her backpack, she seems like a perfect companion for the Doctor. In theory, anyway. We all know that there's only so much leeway a companion is allowed to have before the Doctor considers them more trouble than help (just ask Adam).

If there's any fault with Christina, it's that she's forced a little too eagerly into a pairing with the Doctor. This isn't necessarily her fault, I guess. Not having multiple episodes to work with, I'd imagine that there just wasn't time to dance around the issue. And of course, it sets the table for the conclusion, which really ends up being inevitable.

As I said before, the story here is pretty straightforward. Honestly, you can't get more direct than this tale. The plot itself is so direct, in fact, that I'd argue that it's a good example of Plot 101. But there are worse things inthe world than a simple plot, and the fact that I enjoyed it as much as I did is a testament to how much I enjoy everything else about the show and the collective effort it puts forth.

Speaking of those other elements... did we go old school here or what? Looking at the backdrops for the various scenes, you'll realize that there were only a handful to be had. Street, desert, ship interior... that's pretty much it. Okay, there's a few more, but you get the idea. But the series has never been about the big effects or lavish sets, so that's hardly a complaint. What visual effects there are serve to complement to episode, but there's no doubt in my mind that many people will find one in particular a bit corny. Such is life.

As far as actual complaints, I only have a few. First, there was a disturbing lack of TARDIS here. Granted, I understand that this is the type of story that doesn't work if the Doctor has any access at all to his ship, but we don't even get a token fade in/fade out from it. You could have at least blinked the light on top of the call box for us. Something. Anything.

Also, how is there not a UNIT series of some type already in the works? They're proving themselves to be horrifically entertaining in small doses, and if someone would produce some episodes, I'd be all over them. Come on. Let the little red berets have their fun, too. It'd be nice to see what they were up when they're not bowing down at the altar that is the Doctor's feet.

All in all, Planet of the Dead came right when I was about done with wondering when there'd be new Who and gave me exactly what I was looking for. If The Next Doctor was on the good side of mediocre, then I'd have to say that this adventure was on the average end of good. It did everything I expect of the show, and managed to drop in a handful of extras that I enjoyed. Now back to reality, and the return of my inevitable Who withdrawal.

Rating: 7.5/10 (It's good Who, but it can't quite break the awesome barrier.)

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